Bond lowered for father accused of duct-taping daughter

January 27, 2012|By Jason Meisner | Tribune reporter

Andre Curry (Police photo)

A South Side father accused of posting a disturbing Facebook photo of his 22-month-old daughter bound and gagged could be released from Cook County Jail soon after a judge agreed to lower his bond today.

Andre Curry, 21, has been held in the jail on $100,000 bond since his arrest last month on charges of felony aggravated domestic battery.

Judge Lawrence Flood today lowered the bond to $30,000. His lawyer, Zachary Hamilton, said Curry’s family expected to post the necessary $3,000 sometime after 6 p.m.

As part of Curry’s release, the judge barred him from contact with the child or her mother and ordered him to cooperate with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Flood also reminded Curry that he must show up to his court hearings.

Curry, who has no criminal background, told police he was playing with his daughter one night in December and used blue painter’s tape to bind her ankles and wrists and gag her mouth. He then snapped a photo of the little girl and uploaded it on his Facebook page.

Across the top of the photo were the words: "This is wut (sic) happens wen (sic) my baby hits me back," according to prosecutors and police reports. The message was followed with a winking emoticon.

Family members have said that Curry is playful and the photograph was meant to be a joke.

But the image went viral on the Internet, prompting a flood of calls to police and DCFS from Curry’s friends on Facebook and others who had seen it.

Hamilton told the judge Friday that the child was examined by a doctor who found no evidence of physical harm or neglect. He said Curry cooperated with the police.

Assistant State’s Atty. Kathleen Muldoon objected to lowering the bond, saying the charges were serious and could bring up to 7 years in prison on conviction.

“Regardless of whether he thinks it’s a joke or not, this is a very serious offense,” Muldoon said.

In the lobby of the Criminal Courts Building, Curry’s family, including the child’s mother, Yesmin Doss, said the entire incident was blown out of proportion and that they stand behind Curry.

He hopes to resume his job as a server at a South Side restaurant once he is released, his attorney said.

With her eyes brimming with tears, Doss declined to comment on the photograph that sparked the Internet fervor.

“I’m just happy how things are going so far,” she told reporters in an apparent reference to the lowered bond. She then backed away from the microphones and was chased from the courthouse by TV cameramen.